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cw mci 9 (66.144.52.101)

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Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 11:19 am:   

What do you do if your rear air beams are starting to leak in a mci?
I have heard that some replace these beams with plates. Can you do this yourself? Is it a hard job? Where do you get the materials do do the conversion.
thanks
cw
harold mc8 (205.188.209.8)

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Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 3:24 pm:   

You can get the plates from International Bus Parts, Mohawk Mfg. and others. They are not too hard to install, remove air bag install plates and reinstall airbags. You will have to run some new airlines to feed them, good time to install manual leveling system. Hope this helps, Harold mc8
JimNH (172.200.176.45)

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Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 6:52 pm:   

If you want to maintain a halfway decent ride, do not plate and use the existing, original bags. Get the rolling lobe bellows kit from Mohawk or others. The plates and original bags ride like a skateboard. Ask Jack Conrad.

Jim
ralph7 (208.155.122.40)

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Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 9:49 pm:   

After looking at a rolling lobe bag and a standard mci bag what is the differance? PLated bags an rolling lobe bags about same height but rolling lobe bags easier to install. Put 4 new bags on my 7, 2 were plated and I bought Jack Conrads used plates an used 2 of them,but now I have a mc8 an it has plates on all bags. Have not driven either cause not finished with either. Will finish 8 cause it is auto. Sam quoted me 600?? for 4 rolling bags an misc. parts. mci quoted about 120 for 1 bag parts kit[bolts nuts lockwashers an rings] BUT I bought from Luke an got lots of info. PS PLATES $49.99? each new. E-mail ME if you like. LOOK at all options. ralph7
JimNH (172.158.238.160)

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Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 8:11 am:   

I welded up my airbeams and took off the rolling lobe bags. Jack bought them, that's why you have his plates. There is a difference and I went through the considerable effort to restore the airbeams because I am just a picky old f*rt who likes to restore things. And I felt the ride was worth it. If you can possibly get the mc8 out on the road, do it. See for yourself the difference. Your prices seem to be right in line with what I have seen.

Jim
GILBERT LANDRY (68.54.44.93)

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Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 4:39 pm:   

JIM I INSTALLED ROLLING LOBES AND DON'T LIKE THEM THINKING ABOUT GOING BACK TO OLD BAGS BUT I HAD TO CUT THE TOP FLANGE TO GET THE OLD BAGS OUT CAN THAT FLANGE BE REPLACED.
ralph7 (208.155.122.6)

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Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 5:54 pm:   

Gilbert try Luke. Maybe able to plate an use a 1/4in piece of flat stock. NOW what I did was to use a silicone sealent an you MUST paint ALL rings an plate an sealing surfaces in prep. for sealent an bags use NEW bolts an nuts. IT CAN BE DONE BUT IT TAKES TIME AN PATIENCE. ralph7
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.161.30.145)

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Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 6:33 pm:   

Gilbert- Anything can be done given enough time, money and talent. You will need to be able to do airtight welds. But, what necessitated the installation of air bags that did away with the beam? Was it leaking? If so, that needs to be fixed first, otherwise it will be an ongoing source of leakage. These things don't heal themselves!!

Jim
GILBERT LANDRY (68.54.44.93)

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Posted on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 2:42 pm:   

NO JIM THE BEAMS WERE NOT LEAKING I THOUGHT I WOULD BE SMART AND CHANGE THE BAGS OUT BEFORE THEY WOULD LEAK AND LEAVE ME ON THE ROAD I MADE A BIG MISTAKE
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.210.136.30)

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Posted on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 5:17 pm:   

DEFINITELY go for originals. Once you change them they will last for over 10 years. And the ride will be as originally built. Quite frankly, the 8's & 9's ride better than the new ones with the rolling lobe bags. Driven a lot of them and there is no comparison to the beam system.

I am going to assume the torch got carried away and sliced the plate that you were trying to cut the bolts off of. You may be able to carefully weld the errors up and grind them smooth. If it is done well, it shouldn't cause any problems.

Good luck with it.
Jim
brad (142.177.83.217)

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Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 6:38 am:   

Greetings from Canada
I have an MCI 5B and replaced all my bags and plated them. I found out that MCI in Winnipeg Manitoba had the plates (aluminum) with bolts and were quite resonable. About $50.00 each and had them shipped in 2 days. As far as the ride goes - I think it is great - have ridden in some new Prevost and wouldn't trade.
I have the part #s if you want them.
Brad
Leslie Pike (Lespike) (67.29.204.24)

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Posted on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 5:47 am:   

I agree with Brad, I just installed Mohawks on my MC8 and really like them. The bus doesn't lean near as bad in turns.
Emery Leraand (137.186.245.54)

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Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 12:50 pm:   

We came up with a way to install new pretested tanks inside the original air beams. Lots of trouble to figure them out, but fairly simple now that we know how.

Emery
1958 MCI 96

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